News from project H2Ospital - Safe water for health care facilities

The Assessments of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures and -needs in selected District Hospitals in rural Tanzania and in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam has started this summer.

H2Ospital project manager Petra Kohler visited rural District Hospitals in Tanzania and in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam together with research partners in order to conduct first water quality tests, facility assessments and interviews with relevant informants.

This H2Ospital first project phase focuses on the assessment of the current WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) situation in District Hospitals, including operation and management structures. It involves assessments from the perspective of different user groups like patients, attendants, cleaning personnel, management and medical staff.

The outcomes of the project will contribute to the development of sustainable solution for water treatment) as well as a management model with operational guidelines and a business model. These elements are prerequisites for the development of an implementation strategy to reach high uptake and scale up for a later project phase.

Preliminary results on water quality and -quantity

Preliminary results show that water, especially drinking water in selected District Hospitals in both countries is a concern, quality- and quantity wise.

In Vietnam, the District Hospitals usually have several sources of water and, as the groundwater is brackish (contains salt), some have installed their own small water treatment system. While the quantity of water in Vietnam varies from sufficient to good, in Tanzania the supply is very irregular. This lack of access to water leads to major challenges when it comes to WASH services.

The research team has started creating a baseline study for WASH infrastructures and WASH needs based on the data collected.